Seize Your Moment

"This is what you need from a gym," says Luke Evans, star of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and our chiseled December cover guy. It isn't much—a few cardio machines, some heavy metal, and seven or eight young guys loping about the floor, grunting as they pop out their reps. But after a 12-hour day on a movie set across town, it's all he needs. "It's just weights, mirrors, and a whole lot of space to do what we need to do," Evans says.

Evans, 34, began late in movies, which is why U.S. audiences are only now getting to know him. He's become something of a go-to guy for myths and legends, including this rare double: Apollo in one film and Apollo's dad, Zeus, in another. The dude can rock a breastplate and skirt.

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Born in South Wales, Evans started in musical theater, and he was good at it; that became his comfort zone. When his first straight play—no singing—earned raves, the film industry took notice. After a decade on the stage, Luke Evans was suddenly appearing in Clash of the Titans and Immortals, a swords-and-sandals-and-six packs epic that demanded he drop 26 pounds in just seven weeks so his abs would pop.

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One reason Evans was able to make the transition from stage to screen: Whenever he can't figure out what to do, he shuts up and studies the people around him. "When you get to work with people like Ian McKellen or directors like Peter Jackson," he says, "you sit and watch."

Image courtesy of Universal Studios

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He has a similar attitude in the gym. For Fast & Furious 6, Evans was asked to portray an ex-military man. He stepped up his workouts so he'd both look and feel the part. To help make that happen, he turned to trainer Simon Waterson, who famously helped carve Daniel Craig's torso for his famous beach scene in Casino Royale. Waterson's task was—and is—to focus on making Evans functionally fit so he has the stamina and core strength to jump, fight, run, and ride horses. When your aim is to become strong and fit, Waterson says, the beach body follows naturally.